1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lock structure, more particularly to a car lock structure that is built into an automatic transmission shift rod. It provides a direct and secure locking effect to the automatic shift rod structure mainly by a latch board of the lock cylinder simultaneously latching between the push rod and the push rod tube such that the push rod, the push rod tube, and the lock cylinder form a mutually latched structure. In addition to restricting the push rod from being pressed down and forming a locking effect on the transmission shift rod, it also forms a vertical or transversal latching effect for the entire lock and prevents the lock from being damaged by unauthorized person.
2. Description of the Related Art
The traditional automatic transmission shift rod of vehicles has a core rod inside, and the core rod connects the transmission gear and the press button at the automatic transmission shift rod head. Generally the press button is disposed on the side of the transmission shift rod. When the user presses the press button by his/her thumb will directly press it transversally on the automatic transmission rod head to trigger the core rod, the push rod will release the latch between the transmission gears. Therefore, it allows the user to shift gear by pushing or pulling the rod body. The traditional lock used for the automatic transmission shift rod generally has a lock member being disposed at the press button of the automatic transmission shift rod and the lock member latches the press button so that unauthorized drives cannot shift the gear when they drive and it further prevents the car being stolen.
Further, the current automatic transmission vehicle has the press button disposed at the front-end position of the shift rod as the front pressing automatic transmission shift rod structure. The change in position to facilitate the pressing of the press button during driving and copes with the driving habit of the driver. However, the pressing of the front pressing press button is performed by the user""s index finger, middle finger, and ring finger to retreat the shift rod towards the interior of the shift rod head, and press the push rod downward to trigger the core rod of the shift rod to proceed with the gear shifting motion. The motion of triggering the press button differs from the foregoing press button motion of the side pressing shift rod, and therefore its locking structure cannot directly use that for the side-pressing shift rod.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an automatic transmission shift rod lock structure by means of a latching opening and a latching hole on the push rod and the push rod tube respectively, and a lock cylinder and a latching board formed by the lock bracket at the position corresponsive to the latching opening and the latching hole, such that when the lock cylinder is turned, the latching board will latch into the latch hole of the push rod tube and the latching opening of the push rod to form a mutually latch structure among the push rod, the push rod tube, and the lock cylinder, and the push rod is restricted and not able to move downward due to the latching effect of the latch opening.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide an automatic transmission shift rod lock structure by means of a latching board being formed at the position corresponsive to the latching opening of the lock cylinder and the latching hole, such that when the lock cylinder is turned, the latching board latches into the latching opening and latching hole to form the mutually locked structure among the push rod, the push rod tube and the lock cylinder and prevents the press button from being pressed down in order to attain the locking effect on the shift rod. The lock cylinder cannot be removed from the lock cylinder hole or the shift rod since the latch board latches into the latch hold of the push rod tube. Similarly, the push rod tube cannot move up or down since the latch board latches the latched hole, such that the entire lock structure forms a vertical and transversal locked structure and hence prevents the lock from being damaged by unauthorized users.
To make it easier for our examiner to understand the objective of the invention, its structure, innovative features, and its performance, we use a preferred embodiment together with the attached drawings for the detailed description of the invention.